The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a consumer with personalized beauty care cosmetic products.
Cosmetic products such as mascara, facial foundation, lipstick, hair dyes, and the like have long been used by consumers to aesthetically enhance their physical appearance. The selection of an optimal product from a broad range of choices is a dilemma for consumers. Moreover, the consumer cannot make his/her choice in a private and comfortable setting while selecting his/her product in a retail establishment. Further, once the choice is made, the consumer is committed to his/her choice until the product is either consumed or discarded. This commitment does not permit subsequent flexibility in mood, expected social situation, skin condition, and the like, Also, the consumer may be dissatisfied with the impression a product has, either as a result of his/her own perception or as communicated by another. Consequently, most consumers have a vast array of unused products in their homes. These unused products often have expiration dates, which are rarely acknowledged by the consumer and, therefore, create potential health hazards to the consumer.
Past approaches to cosmetic personalization have focused on the point of sale occurring in the retail establishment. For example, methods permit a salesperson to manually adjust the formulation of facial foundations so as to match the consumer""s skin color. More recent approaches have advanced this idea by providing automatic cosmetic dispensing devices at a retail establishment. These more recent devices are operated by retail store personnel to produce a product which is packaged in a container and provided to the consumer.
Although the abovementioned approaches partially address a consumer""s need for personalization, there are several significant disadvantages. For example, these approaches assume that a consumer will not change his/her mind, regarding the purchased product, on a frequent basis after using the product. Under either approach listed above, a change of mind on the consumer""s part requires him/her to repurchase another entire container of cosmetic product. Further, the consumer must physically visit the retail establishment and again make selections in a public setting. These approaches are inconvenient, expensive and still result in significant cosmetic inventory at the consumer""s home. Moreover, the expiration dates associated with the consumer""s cosmetic inventory will often expire before the consumer ever finishes the product.
Furthermore, existing point of sale cosmetic dispensing devices fill a container with a cosmetic product, requiring the product to be transferred onto an applicator prior to use by the consumer. For example, point of sale customized facial cream is typically provided in a bottle at the retail establishment. Prior to the consumer using the customized facial cream, the cream must be transferred to the consumer""s hand or onto a pad where it is subsequently applied by the consumer. If the consumer is unhappy with the customized facial cream, the entire bottle of cream remains unused because, existing devices do not permit dispensing a single application quantity of the facial cream onto an intermediate surface for a single application by the consumer.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide consumers with a method and apparatus for receiving customized cosmetic products.
Additional objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows and, in part, will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examining or practicing the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, methods and an apparatus are provided for providing customized cosmetic products to a consumer.
A method of providing customized cosmetics to a consumer is provided, comprising providing ingredients for producing cosmetic products and receiving selection data from a consumer. Further, a cosmetic product formula is generated using the ingredients and the selection data, and the customized cosmetic product is dispensed for subsequent application.
Further, an apparatus for producing a customized cosmetic product is provided, comprising a selection device for providing selection data, reservoirs for storing fluids, and a fluid metering device for producing a cosmetic product matching the selection data using the selection data and the fluids. Moreover, a dispenser is provided for depositing the cosmetic product onto an intermediate surface for subsequent application.
Also, a cartridge for use with a cosmetic device to supply the device with ingredients is provided, comprising one or more fluids each fluid having a color, a composition and, the cartridge having an encasing shell housing the fluids. Further, the cartridge has openings for dispensing the fluids to produce a customized cosmetic product on an intermediate surface for subsequent application.
Finally, an applicator used to collect a customized cosmetic product from a cosmetic device is provided, comprising a surface capable of accumulating a cosmetic product produced from a cosmetic device and used by a consumer to apply the cosmetic to the consumer""s body.
Still other aspects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of an exemplary embodiment, which is by way of illustration, one of the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different and obvious aspects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are illustrative in nature and not restrictive.